My 3 day/3 show sojourn into South Dakota continued on Sunday. That morning I met with Ben Hanten, owner of Ben's Brewing & The Copper Room, at the historical Cramer-Kenyon House. While there, we shot a couple videos for my songs "27 Feet" and "Sweat Equity". Singing songs about my home in a beautiful place like that? It just felt right. To kill time in the afternoon, I returned to the house with my wife and were given a private tour by the resident care taker. That or we followed a ghost around. It made the house that much more interesting to know the story behind it. For the remainder of the afternoon, we hit several other landmarks and had, I think, a pretty authentic Yankton experience. Last year was my first time performing at 6th Meridian Hop Farm and I believe it to be one of the first that they had. It has been great to watch them grow and succeed. Upon arriving on the scene this particular afternoon, the first thing I saw was the new stage they had built out of an old deck. It looks cool out on that hop farm, and it's especially nice when you're performing on a sunny day. I'm really looking forward to being back at this place two more times this summer. Once to open up for Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band (7/28/19) and a second time as a part of the Swing Cat Festival (8/10/19).

Come on, man. They can see those dates under the "Shows" tab. Get to the beans.

Counterfeit Curbside is an upscale food truck that, lucky for me, was on site for the entire weekend. They had "Ancho Libre Baked Beans" on the menu, and I just had to dig in. The order of beans was a large serving, handed out in a cardboard dish. I didn't see a spoon available, so I had to use a fork. That didn't stop me from shoveling these down. This offering was  a 3 bean variety. Dark, and light, red kidney beans as well as black beans. If I'm not mistaken. There was a decent bean-to-sauce ratio, but since I'm being picky, that many beans could have used a touch more sauce. Those 3 different types of beans had been cooked very well, resulting in a perfect consistency. There were large chunks of bacon in the dish to provide a nice change in each bite. The brains behind this dish included some nicely cooked down green peppers, plenty of minced garlic, and fresh green onion as a garnish. This added a depth of flavors that I've yet to encounter in any of the dishes I've sampled. There was a mild sweetness to these beans and it was balanced well with a smokey, spicy flavor. This was no doubt a result of the dish having been simmered in Lost Cabin Beer Company's "Ancho Libre" ale. Had I not needed to get up and sing my songs, I'd have had a couple more bowls of these.

Ratings (On a scale of 1-5)
Appearance: 4
Flavor: 4
Mouthfeel: 4

Total Score:  12
Tied for the highest score. 

For what it's worth,
Tastee Treat Drive Inn's Hot Fudge Shake: 5

This weekend I had a nice, 3 show run set up around eastern South Dakota. Friday night was Yankton. Saturday was Sioux Falls. On Sunday, well, I went back to Yankton. I had an early show on Saturday at The Source. An automated self-pour tap wall. I was in heaven. Had a nice show that afternoon, and some Sioux Falls friends I hadn't seen in a while even showed up. Anyway, I  had headed to the city with my wife after we determined Backyard BBQ was the place to go. We met some friends there. It was in the downtown Sioux Falls area, and it was packed. The downtown area, I mean. They had, what I'm told, is their first sanctioned PRIDE parade. It looked like supporters showed up in full force. Inside The Backyard BBQ was a different story. We were the sole patrons in the restaurant when we sat down. I would have guessed that they hadn't been busy for a while, as the two fellas there were more preoccupied with the college baseball game on TV than with taking our orders. Took some time to even get a drink order in...they could have used an automated tap wall. To make matters worse, we were subjected to a sound track of awful contemporary country music. Imagine my surprise when a couple Tyler Childers and Jason Isbell songs managed to make it in the mix. 

You want the beans, not the noise. 

At Backyard BBQ, their "Molasses Baked Beans" were a side option and I coupled it with a good pulled pork sandwich. The beans were served up in a black plastic cup. That cup was awfully small for my liking. They did manage to provide me with a spoon. I got all the utensils rolled up in napkin. Classic. There were two different types of beans in this dish, and they were cooked to a great consistency. Those two different types of beans were drowning. The bean-to-sauce ratio skewed high towards the later. There were no vegetables or peppers mixed into this dish, though the beans were accompanied by chunks of bacon. This added a nice textural component to the dish. The beans did have a nice sweetness to them, but it wasn't over the top, as one might expect with "Molasses Baked Beans". In not allowing the baked beans to be too sweet, they were balanced nicely with a good smoky flavor. Did I mention the serving size was too small? I could have had a lot more of these. 

Ratings (On a scale of 1-5)
Appearance: 3
Flavor: 3
Mouthfeel: 4

Total Score:10

For what it's worth,
The Sioux Falls community supporting PRIDE: 5

My wife and I took a trip. We were going to spend a week on Lake Superior's North Shore. M H Stroh had a poetry reading - her great poems from the self published collection "Mouthful of Agates". Friends were there. Fans were there, too. I also had a show at one of Duluth's newest breweries, Ursa Minor. It was a great space, with delicious beer and fantastic merchandise. The sound system made it hard for me to hear what I was sounding like, but the folks in attendance seemed to enjoy it all right. So, it was a working vacation of sorts. Our cabin was situated 25 to 30 feet from Lake Superior so we were able to fall asleep, and wake up to, the sound of the waves crashing on the rock. Hiking through Tettegouche, Split Rock Light House, and Gooseberry Falls State Parks afforded some great views. The weather was mostly nice, save the over-night blizzard we endured. We lost power and rode out the storm playing board games by flashlight.  
 
Beans, Messerole. They're here for the beans.

Before making our trip up the shore, we spent a couple of days in the Twin Cities metropolitan area where we ate and drank to our content. One of the first stops we made was the highly touted Modist Brewing Company. They didn't have a kitchen, but were accompanied by a food truck. An increasingly common site among the plethora of tap rooms I've visited. The Big Red Wagon had a variety of foods to offer, but we settled in on an order of cheese curds and a cup of baked beans. Health food. The beans from The Big Red Wagon were served in a nice sized paper cup, and they even provided me with a spoon. Read about that in the last few posts. From what I could gather, there was a couple different types of beans in this mixture and they were cooked very well. There were no vegetables to be found in this offering, but there was  hearty amount of pulled pork thrown into the mix. That coupled with the well cooked beans made for a fantastic consistency in the dish. The meat and beans were served in a robust sauce that carried your taste buds off in a variety of directions. Left scattered like dandelion pappus in metaphorical fields of sweet, spicy, and smokey flavors. These baked beans were served up in a great bean-to-sauce ratio, as well. If I can find a downfall to this dish, it's that they were served borderline cold. That, certainly, doesn't make it impossible to eat, it's just not what I had expected. Hence the 3 point consistency rating. Otherwise, these were nearly perfect.

Ratings (On a scale of 1-5)
Appearance: 4
Flavor: 5
Mouthfeel: 3

Total Score: 12
Tied for the highest score yet. 

For what it's worth,
​Modist Brewing's Apiary Drip: 5